Tom Holland

speaker

51,366 appearances 197 recordings 9 series first heard Oct 2024 last heard 2d ago

Tom Holland’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 92 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 11.

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The Rest Is History · 708. The Terror: The Reign of Robespierre (Part 2) · 23 Sep 2026 podcast

He takes it very seriously and he clearly identifies with Cicero very strongly. matched

But the person he really loves, again, a very familiar name throughout this entire series, is Rousseau. matched

the favorite philosopher of an entire generation of revolutionaries. matched

Robespierre claimed that he had gone to visit Rousseau in 1778. matched

He wrote, I saw you in your last days and this memory is a source of proud joy for me. matched

Scholars matched

are unclear whether this is actually true or not. matched

Rousseau is about to die. matched

So the only way that Robespierre could have gone to see him, he's only 19, he would have had to skip school to go and see him. matched

So there are lots of biographers of Robespierre who think this is unlikely, but it's not impossible. matched

And even if he made it up, I mean, it's kind of tribute to how passionately devoted to Rousseau Robespierre is. matched

And the reason that he loves Rousseau is that Rousseau matched

defines for Robespierre the core principles that will underlie his politics throughout his entire life. matched

There are really three key aspects of Rousseau's philosophy that Robespierre comes to treasure. matched

The ultimate one of these, the non-negotiable conviction that Robespierre holds to throughout his entire life, is that the common people are the absolute embodiment of virtue. matched

And if that is the case, then it follows, as Rousseau puts it, and this is the second principle that Robespierre holds to, that the first of all laws is the wellbeing of the people. matched

Nothing that does not contribute to the wellbeing of the people should be allowed in a virtuous state. matched

completely. matched

And what Robespierre also holds to very passionately, and again, he gets this from Rousseau, is that history will throw up certain individuals who are peculiarly qualified to voice the will of the people. matched

So the volonté générale, as Rousseau calls it. matched

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